e.m.f. decay time.

This voltage is used to control the frequency

of a voltage controlled oscillator (v.c.o.) which drives the
speaker.

P. J. Wales
Pulse Induction metal detectors have been available on the
commercial market for some years and essentially their circuits
remain unchanged from the original design. They have
developed their own unique reputation because they have
inherent features that other metal detectors do not have. They
have always been very powerful machines capable of detecting
Practical Wireless January 1979 Copyright  PW Publishing, Ltd.
Circuit Description
The short negative-going pulses which are applied to the coil
are generated by means of a 555 timer (IC1) operating in the
astable mode. The repetition frequency is about 66 pulses per
second and the duty cycle (ratio of pulse length to pulse
interval) about one percent. The output at pin 3 is amplified and
inverted by Tr1 and applied to the power transistor Tr2. This
transistor is run in a linear mode to increase switching speed
and also reduce current consumption. The waveform on its
collector follows the dotted line in Fig. 1(b) which shows that
up to point A, Tr2 is saturated whilst the current builds up in the
coil. After point A, the transistor goes into its linear mode,

conducting approximately 0.5 amp.

a 2p coin up to 230mm underground. Because of the very low
frequencies used they are insensitive to ground effects, coke, Before describing the signal processing it is convenient to
salt water, wet grass or small pieces of aluminium foil. Their deal with the power supply arrangements. A 10.5V battery
sensitivity is a function of their current consumption and thus (seven cells) is used in the design illustrated, though any supply
their battery life is generally poor, but their main disadvantage between 9V and 12V is satisfactory. The quiescent current
is their inability to discriminate between ferrous and non- consumption is about 50mA, rising to about 100mA on full
ferrous materials. detect. The positive line from the battery has been designated
0V. The other line is therefore -10.5V. Decoupling of the
The author has spent two years developing a circuit which
battery supply is provided by C1. Two other supply lines are
combines good sensitivity, low current consumption and ease
derived from the basic battery supply.
of use; a circuit which the enthusiast can build himself without
the need for elaborate and complex test gear. The circuits have The first of these, +12V, is generated by an oscillator-
been particularly tuned to gold and silver, and they can be set rectifier arrangement. A c.m.o.s. ring oscillator based on IC3
up perfectly with only a meter. The unit illustrated is assembled runs at about 30kHz. The output is applied to the buffer
into a case available as a kit from Ambit International Ltd.

Theory
The basic principles of the PI metal detector are best
understood by reference to the block diagram, Fig. 1(a).
As with most metal detectors, the heart of the machine is the
coil. When power is applied to the coil it generates a magnetic
field proportional to the number of turns of wire and the current
passing through them. When the power is removed the voltage
across the coil first drops to zero and then, as the magnetic field
decays, builds up in the reverse direction as a back e.m.f. is
induced into the coil. If the coil is correctly damped the back
e.m.f. dies away as shown in Fig. 1(b). Should there be a piece
of metal near the coil, it is affected by the magnetic field either
to produce eddy currents or to be magnetised, depending upon
whether the metal is non-ferrous or ferrous. In either case the
result is the same in that the back e.m.f. takes longer to die
away. This effect is most apparent in the time it takes to reach
0V.
Thus the detector circuits are arranged to process the area of
signal where the back e.m.f. nears 0V. This is done by
amplifying the coil waveform and then taking a sample of the
voltage just as it gets to 0V. This sample is fed to an integrator
which produces an output voltage proportional to the back

Page 1
 Practical Wireless January 1979 Copyright  PW Publishing, Ltd.

Page 2
 transistor Tr3 which has an autotransformer T1 as its collector
Resistors
load. The 50V peak pulses produced are rectified by D1 and
smoothed by C6. Regulator IC8 maintains the output at 12V. ¼W 5%
4.7Ω1 R10
It is essential that IC3 is an unbuffered “A” type, since the 47Ω1 R8
buffered “B” type will not work in this circuit. No attempt is 100Ω4 R5, 7, 11, 21
180Ω1 R29
made to tune T1, as tuning tends to upset the ring oscillator,
270Ω1 R6
making it unstable. The circuit is decoupled by R8 and C4, to 330Ω2 R4, 19
prevent 30kHz ripple being fed into the amplifiers. 1kΩ4 R1, 9, 12, 13
1.2kΩ1 R3
The second derived supply line is a stabilised -5V for the 1.5kΩ2 R14, 30
amplifiers. This is provided by regulator IC2. 2.2kΩ1 R28
10kΩ3 R20, 26, 36
The signal across the search coil is fed via a clipping network 18kΩ1 R27
R11, D2 and D3, which limits the voltage swing at the input to 33kΩ2 R31, 32
amplifier IC4 to ±0.7V to prevent overloading. The gain of IC4 47kΩ3 R23, 33, 34
is set to 10,000 by means of R18, and frequency compensation 100kΩ3 R2, 17, 35
150kΩ1 R22
is designed to provide the fastest response with maximum
220kΩ1 R15
reliability. The output offset is set by means of VR1. 1MΩ4 R16, 18, 24, 25
In order to be able to sample the waveform across the search Potentiometers
Practical Wireless January 1979 Copyright  PW Publishing, Ltd.

coil as it reaches 0V, it is necessary to generate a delayed 100kΩ min. horiz. preset1VR1
gating pulse. This is done by IC7, which is arranged to form 4.7Ω lin. pot. with d.p. switch1VR2/S1
two monostables. The first, IC7a and b, produces a pulse 50µs Capacitors
wide, starting on the trailing edge of the pulse at Tr1 collector. Polystyrene
The second monostable, IC7c and d, is triggered by the first, 10pF1 C7
and generates a pulse 75µs wide, which is the sample pulse. 1nF4 C17, 18, 19, 20
This is applied to the gate of Tr4, turning the latter on for 75µs, Sub-min plate ceramic
50µs after the transmit pulse ends. See Fig. 3. 3.3pF1 C8
Polycarbonate, 100V
When the sample pulse is on the gate of Tr4, the source-drain
33nF1 C5
impedance is very low, and the voltage at the output of IC4 is 0.1µF4 C3, 10, 14, 15
transferred to the input of IC5. For the rest of the period the 0.22µF1 C2
impedance of Tr4 is very high, and IC4 output is isolated from 0.47µF1 C12
IC5. The small negative-going pulses are amplified and Tantalum Bead, 16V
integrated by IC5/C12 to form a low-rise sawtooth waveform 22µF3 C9, 11, 13
whose d.c. level is proportional to the width of the back-e.m.f. Electrolytic, 16V p.c. mounting
pulse. The output offset of IC5 is adjusted by means of VR2. 47µF3 C4, 6, 16
1000µF1 C1
The output of IC5 is connected to Tr5 which is a low-gain
Semiconductors
inverter. When IC5 output is low, the collector of Tr5 is at
Diodes
+12V and Tr6 source-drain impedance is too high for capacitor
1N40011 D1
C14 to charge. When the output of 6C5 is high, Tr5 is switched 1N41482 D2, 3
on and the source-drain impedance of Tr6 is low. This allows
Transistors
C14 to charge and IC6 then functions as an audio-frequency BC1842 Tr3, 5
oscillator whose frequency is proportional to the amount by BC2141 Tr1
which the width of the back-e.m.f. pulse exceeds 50µs. E113 (or BF256B)1Tr4
E1761 Tr6
The oscillator output is applied to the internal loudspeaker, or TIP31A (or BD535)1Tr2
to headphones when these are plugged into JK1. Integrated Circuits
MC14011CP1 IC3 (see text)
MC14011BCP1 IC7
Construction 78L121 IC8
The battery holder should first be assembled sufficiently to 79L051 IC2
5552 IC1, 6
provide power for testing. It will be finished when the circuits
7091 IC4
are built and tested. The top adaptor should be gently tapped 7411 IC5
into the aluminium tube using a piece of wood as a buffer to
Miscellaneous
protect the pvc from damage. The spade terminal which forms
T1 Toko 87BX135. JK1 Switched stereo jack. PL1/SK1 3-pole
the negative battery connection should then be riveted to the
connector, Bulgin P632. LS1 8Ω 2 or 2½ in. Materials for case,
tube with the special rivet provided. Remove the epoxy coating battery holder, shaft, search coil, etc. (see text).
from the first 15mm of the tube with a Surform tool or file and
glue the battery cap holder to the tube with an isocyanoacrylate

Page 3

Practical Wireless January 1979 Copyright  PW Publishing, Ltd.
adhesive such as Cyanolit or Super Glue 3. Stretch the spring so
that it is about 50 percent longer than its original length. It
should now slide easily down the tube. Bend the contact plate
extensions down at right angles and clip it over one end of the
spring. Fold the extensions over the spring to clamp it firmly.
Bend out the last 10mm of the spring to cause it to scrape the
side of the tube and push it down the tube with the batteries.
The coil is wound from 20 turns of 26 s.w.g. enamelled
copper wire in a 200mm diameter circle. The coils should be
secured with twists of copper wire, ensuring that they do not
form a short circuit around the coil. Do not use adhesive tape
for this as the epoxy resin tends to lift it away and then the coils
move whilst they are setting. Feed a 2m length of 3-core
miniature mains cable into the hole in the side of the bottom
tube and out of the machined end. Strip it and solder the blue
and the brown to the ends of the coil. Glue the bottom adaptor
into the coil with Cyanolit and leave it to set hard.
Place the coil in the moulding and shape it to lie as flat along
the bottom as possible, ensuring the minimum resin used and
the lightest coil. Seal the wire into the adaptor with
Seccomastic to prevent the resin from leaking past the wire.
Chock up the moulding until the top surface is horizontal and
ensure that it is firmly supported. The epoxy resin in the kit has
resin and hardener in one plastic bag, separated by a plastic
clip. Remove the clip and mix thoroughly for at least five
minutes. Snip off the corner of the bag and carefully pour it
over the coil using only enough to cover it. If any resin is
spilled, do not wipe it off the moulding as it comes off easily
when it is set. Leave to harden for 24 hours minimum. An
alternative printed circuit coil is available from Ambit
International.
PCB Assembly
Very few of the components are critical but to avoid
problems it is advisable to use only new, best quality parts. The
circuit has been designed so that a working unit can be set up
perfectly using only an Avometer. Due to the complexity of the
circuit, it is recommended that each stage is built and tested
before progressing to the next. Accordingly a loading sequence
is given for each part of the circuit followed by a testing and
fault finding guide. Each part of the circuit must be working
correctly before progressing to the next stage. It is inadvisable
to try to build this circuit on Veroboard as the layout is fairly
critical, and at least a double-beam ‘scope will be necessary for
fault finding if problems occur.
Page 4
 least -7V on it and
that pin 10 of IC3 has
half of the voltage at
R8. If not, then the
i.c. is suspect. If so,
then check the
positive end of D1
which should have
more than +15V on
it. If not, suspect Tr3.
Switch off.
Minus 5V supply:
Load IC2 and C11.
Switch on and
measure the output of
IC2, it should be -5V.
Switch off.
Amplifier: Load
Practical Wireless January 1979 Copyright  PW Publishing, Ltd.

R11, D2, D3, R12 to

R19 inclusive, C7,
C8, IC4 and VR1.
Check, crop and
solder. Move the coil
away from any metal
and turn on. Adjust
VR1 to give an
output voltage of
+0.5V on pin 6 of
IC4. Move the coil to
a large piece of iron
and the voltage
should go up to 0.7V
or so.
If the output cannot
Pulse Generator: Load IC1, C1, C2, C3, R1 and R2. Check, be set to 0.5V then
crop and solder. Wire the p.c.b. to the battery spade sockets via check the voltages on pins 2 and 3. They should be nearly the
S1 (part of VR2). Connect the spade sockets to the battery same at 0V. If not, fit a new 709. If they are correct solder a
holder terminals. Switch on and measure the output at pin 3 100kΩ resistor across R15 and check that the 709 output can be
IC1. It should be one per cent of 10²5V, i.e. 105mV. Switch off. adjusted. If not, fit a new 709 but if so, replace R15 with the
largest resistor that will allow the output to be adjusted from
Power Stage: Load R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, Tr1 and Tr2. Check, rail to rail. Set the output to +0.5V and switch off.
crop and solder. Switch on and measure the voltage between
Tr1 collector and the negative rail. It should be the same as IC1 Sample Pulse generator: Load C17 to C20 and R31 to R35
output, i.e. 105mV. Switch off and solder the coil temporarily inclusive. Ensure that IC7 is a buffered type and insert it
into the p.c.b. Make up an improvised peak-reading probe for carefully. Check, crop and solder. Switch on and try to measure
the meter by wiring a 1N4001 diode between the positive test the output of IC7 at pin 10. As the waveform is a square wave
clip and its lead (positive or white end of the diode towards the of duty cycle 0.1 percent the voltage should be very close to -
lead) and a 0.1µF capacitor across the leads. Switch on again 10.5V. Switch off.
and measure the voltage between the collector of Tr2 and 0V Sample Circuit and Integrator: Load C10, Tr4, R20 to R24
(meter negative to 0V). This can be anything between 12V and inclusive, R36, C12, IC5 and wire up VR2. Check, crop and
50V, this being the peak back e.m.f. voltage. Switch off. solder. Switch on with the meter between pin 6, IC5 and 0V.
Minus 12V Supply: Load R8, C4, C5, IC3, R9, R10, Tr3, D1, Move the coil away from metal and set VR2 so that the output
C6, IC8, C9 and T1. The usual precautions must be taken while is about 0V. Move the coil near metal and the voltage should
handling thec.m.o.s. IC3. Damage may result if a static charge rise to almost +12V. If the output cannot be set to 0V measure
is applied to its pins. Check, crop and solder. Switch on. The the input voltages on pins 2 and 3. Pin 2 should be slightly
output of IC8 should be +12V. If it is not, check that R8 has at negative and pin 3 should be adjustable to either side of it. If
the voltages are wildly out suspect IC7. If they are very near,

Page 5
 alter the value of R22 or R23 to bring the range of VR2 to the proprietary brands of case available to house the electronics.
correct point. Switch off. The part of the shaft nearest the coil must be non-metallic.
Buffer and VCO: Load R25, Tr6, Tr5, R26 to R29 inclusive,
C13 to C16 inclusive, IC6 and wire temporarily to the speaker. In use
Check, crop and solder. Switch on with the coil away from any Whether you use a kit or make your own, the way to use the
metal. Ensure that with VR2 right down the speaker is silent, machine is exactly the same. Best results will be obtained when
and with VR2 right up and the coil near metal, the tone is at its the user has experience with his machine.
highest pitch. This can be adjusted slightly by altering VR1,
keeping the output of IC4 within the limits of 0V to +0.5V. Switch on and turn up the control until the speaker is at its
highest pitch. Back the control off until the speaker has just
stopped clicking. If the control is set too close to the quiet point
Final Assembly then as the coil changes direction through the magnetic field of
When the circuit is working correctly, fix the coil plug PL1, the earth, it will give an output, so set it back just a fraction
jack JK1 and potentiometer VR2 into the bottom tray, and leave more. The best point will be found with lots of practice.
flying leads from the p.c.b. Mount the p.c.b. from 3 screws
If you are sure there is something to detect and know roughly
through the case with suitable spacers, and solder the leads to
where it is then the machine can be set with the speaker just
PL1 and JK1as shown in Fig. 7. Solder R30 across the jack and
clicking at about 1Hz. Search very slowly and listen for a
glue the speaker into the case with Evostik. Slide the battery
change in the rate of clicking. The machine is at its most
Practical Wireless January 1979 Copyright  PW Publishing, Ltd.

tube through the top half of the case and glue the battery cap to
sensitive at this point. When you are very familiar with your
the case with Cyanolit. Cement the tube to the inside of the case
machine you may wish to alter the value of C14 to 47nF which
and the battery cap to the case with ABS cement. Fit the
increases the sensitivity to small objects but makes the control
bottom, half of the case into position and drill 4 holes for self-
more critical.
tapping screws, avoiding the speaker.
Assemble the complete detector and wind the lead from the Follow-up #1 to
search coil around the shaft as shown in the photographs to
keep it tidy. Cut the lead to a suitable length, then strip it and Sandbanks Metal Detector
connect it to the free socket SK1. P.J.Wales
Practical Wireless April 1979
Alternative cases
The more experienced constructor, having built his
As mentioned previously, this circuit can run from a supply “Sandbanks”, may wish to increase its performance, and these
between 9V and 12V without modification, so the battery used notes are a guide as to how that may be achieved.
is up to the builder. A PP9 will last up to 15 hours, HP2s up to
80 hours and MN1300s up to 200 hours. Should the constructor The locator works by transmitting a heavy magnetic field
decide to build his own case then a visit to the local builders’ over the find (which we shall call the subject) and comparing
merchant will secure most of the necessary items for the shaft the decay of that field in the subject, to the decay in the coil.
and handle. Hence, if the rate of decay in the subject is faster than that in
the coil, the subject will not be detected. Thus the first item to
The coil should be wound as detailed but it could be glued to evaluate is the coil.
a piece of glass fibre p.c.b. material with all of the copper
etched away. The coil must be rigid and waterproof so it is best
to cover it with Araldite. The shaft and handle can be made Energy Storage
from ¾in water pipe but the best material is ¾T which has a To detect small and fast-conducting objects such as gold,
thick wall suitable for threading. There are a number of silver or copper, the energy stored in the coil must be as low as
possible. The energy is stored in three ways. First the
magnetism, which we want as large as possible, secondly the
inductance, which is very low in an air-cored inductor, and
thirdly and most importantly, the capacitance, which has no
effect other than to slow down the rate of decay of the
magnetic field. The capacitance is produced by the proximity
of the conductors in the coil, and they are only separated by the
thickness of the insulating varnish, so a significant
improvement can be obtained by insulating the wire used for
the coil with a pvc sleeve. Greater gains can be obtained by
winding the coil, with the extra insulation, in a neat manner so
that the inside turns are as far away from the outside turns as
possible. This leads us on to a flat coil which has about two-
thirds of the capacitance of the wire bundle coil. However, it is

Page 6
 very difficult to wind, but if you succeed, then Araldite the coil
before potting it or the turns may move in the potting
compound. By far the best solution is to use a printed circuit
coil, as designed by the author and available from Plessis
Electronics, Castle house, Old Road, Leighton Buzzard, Beds,
which has a capacitance of about half that of a wire bundle.
Coil Shape and Size
The next stage in the coil design is to alter the size of the coil.
Generally speaking, to maintain the same parameters within the
machine, it is necessary to increase the number of turns when
reducing the diameter of the coil. A small coil will locate
objects very accurately, but its range is reduced. For greater
range, the coil can be increased in diameter, and as a rough
guide, doubling the coil size will double the range, within
limits.
Square coils also have a lot to offer, because the range on a
Practical Wireless January 1979 Copyright  PW Publishing, Ltd.
square coil is greater than that on a round coil of a similar size.
Even greater range can be obtained by using a rectangular coil,
and the optimum ratio of the sides is 4:1. One manufacturer of
machines using the Pulse Induction principle offers a coil 1.83
x 0.48m (72 x l8in) as a standard with one of his detectors.
Modifications
Experimenting with coils for enormous range is very easy,
but finding nails 3m under hard ground is not very rewarding,
so stay within reason. In order to take maximum advantage of
any reduction in coil capacitance achieved, it is necessary to
reduce the time between the transmit pulse and the sample
pulse, called the delay time. The shorter the delay time, the
more sensitive the detector is to gold. The delay time in the PW
“Sandbanks” is altered by changing the value of R31 and R32.
It is easiest to replace these two with 47kΩ presets during tests,
putting in suitable resistors when a satisfactory performance has
been reached. It is best to check the delay time using a double-
beam oscilloscope, but lacking one of these, the control VR2
should be set to its midpoint and VRI adjusted to ensure that
the output of the 709 is at 0V. Then reducing the added presets
until the speaker just starts clicking ensures the optimum delay
time.
Internal Delays
It may be argued that the internal circuits produce their own
delays and this is certainly true, but the circuit has a fall time of
3 microseconds and this is quite fast enough. No improvement
was obtained with a £4.50 r.f. power transistor and low-
capacitance diodes. The capacitance at the coil connections was
measured as 23lpF and an ordinary coil as 68lpF. Reducing the
100Ω resistor R7 will reduce the decay time but it will also
reduce the current in the coil and its damping effect will alter,
so leave it alone.
When you have wound the coil that meets with your by two things, the pulse rate of IC1, and the integration time of
requirements, do not forget to waterproof it and make it rigid. If IC5. The pulse rate can be increased to 500Hz by changing C2
it is left loose, the machine will drift all over the places as the to 33nF. This change allows the integration capacitor C12 to be
coil capacitance changes when the coil moves.
Follow-up #2 to
Sandbanks Metal Detector
P.J.Wales
Practical Wireless August 1979
Response from readers to the PW “Sandbanks” article of
January 1979 has taken two forms, faults which cannot be
located, and requests for variations on the theme. The most
common fault reported has been that of the output of IC4 going
negative when a large piece of metal is brought near the search
coil. A few letters were selected at random and the writers were
asked to send the offending p.c.b. in for examination. In only
one case was the 709 faulty. This particular device is running in
its fastest possible mode, and so all stray capacitance and
inductance around it should be at a minimum. This means that
the i.c. must not be a socket, and it should preferably be a TO5
version. All of the associated components should have short
leads and be mounted as close to the board as possible. If these
precautions are observed, it is very unlikely that IC4 will go
unstable.
Power Supply Problems
The second phenomenon which can cause the output to go
negative is poor power supply regulation. If your “Sandbanks”
has this problem, then check the -5V rail and the +12V rail. If
they are more than one volt out then that is the fault. If they are
correct, then try adjusting VR1 whilst monitoring the 12V rail.
If it varies or if it is low anyway then that is the fault. The cure
is not so easy to find, but is frequently due to either the 709 or
the 741 taking too much current, so disconnect pin 7 on each
i.c. and measure the current. The 709 should take 2.6mA and
the 741, 1.7mA. If either or both is taking more then change
them, but the figures are only manufacturers’ typical figures,
the devices are not faulty.
A very large number of these circuits have been tested, and
less than one per cent of them have had to have any changes
made to the circuit values as published in PW. The only fault
that it has not been possible to cure was that of drift. The circuit
should remain absolutely stable once set, and if any reader has
had this problem and cured it. the author will be very pleased to
hear from him or her.
Response Speed
To get the very best from your “Sandbanks” several things
can be optimised, but the first step is to fit a printed circuit coil,
as described in the April 1979 issue. This really does increase
the sensitivity to gold and silver tremendously. Having fitted
this and made the appropriate changes to the sampling circuit,
the next improvement is in the response speed. This is defined
reduced from 0.47µF to 47nF. The circuit now is 10 times as
Page 7
 fast as it was and will detect a coin being thrown through the
coil.

Audio Changes
Checking the machine’s performance now, will prove that
the next step of improving the quality of the audio is a good
one to take. The first problem with the audio is that it is too
low in frequency, and when a coin is detected at maximum
range. the change in audio frequency is so slow that it is very
easy to have passed the coin and miss it. To remedy this,
change R25 to 220kΩ and C14 to 47nF. This now gives a
much higher pitch but the tone comes on too fast and it is very
difficult to tell how deep the find is by the tone. It is also very
unstable due to the short integration time of IC5. The
instability can be cured by wiring Cx (10nF) from base to
collector of Tr5 on the back of the p.c.b. The speed of the audio
can be corrected by wiring another 10nF, C Y on the back of the
board, this time between pin 7 of IC6 and the base of Tr5. This
Practical Wireless January 1979 Copyright  PW Publishing, Ltd.

has a great feedback effect and now the audio is super-smooth

from a fast clicking to a very high pitch indeed (Fig. 1).
Having got the audio working correctly, the next step is to
balance all of the tolerances in the circuit. This should be
effective for 95 per cent of all “Sandbanks” but if it does not
work on yours, then do not worry, your machine is still very
powerful.
To peak the sensitivity, connect a meter between the output
of IC4 and the 0V rail. Set the audio, with no metal near the
coil, to about half-pitch. Adjust VR1 so that the audio is at its
lowest frequency with the meter reading between 0V and 8V.
If the meter reads outside these limits when at the lowest pitch,
then re-adjust VR1 for 0.5V and leave it there; it is very near
the optimum setting at this point. If you can get a minimum
between 0 and 8V then expect to see about 5V typically.

Meter Option
Some readers have requested a meter option for the
“Sandbanks”, but adding one which will improve the
sensitivity is not easy. Ambit International do make a suitable
meter, scaled “1” to “5” and legended “Tuning”, and with a bit
of fiddling it should be possible to fit this into the end of the
handle. There are two different ways to wire this into the
circuit; the easiest way is if you intend to discard the audio
stage completely. This makes the machine more sensitive, but
you do have to watch the meter all of the time. If this is the
way you want to do it, then remove Tr5 and R25. Solder a
10kΩ resistor RZ between the base and emitter connections in
the p.c.b. and connect the meter into the holes for R25 (Fig. 2).
To retain the audio stage, it is necessary to build the audio
modifications as previously detailed, but leave out R25, and
leave C14 as 0.1µF. R25 now becomes a 27kΩ but the meter is
connected in series with it, and measures the base current of
Tr5. It will be found when adjusting VR2, that the meter will
just leave the “1” mark before the audio starts. This is the
correct position for VR2 and so it is easy to verify that the
setting has not changed when the machine is in use (Fig. 3).
Page 8
 Component Problems
The demand for the “Sandbanks” kit was much greater than
was anticipated and so Ambit have had some problems in
supplying some of the less common parts of the kit, such as
IC2, which has been modified in some kits. The biggest
problem has been the supply of the cases, but I am assured that
these are available now, and so if you were disappointed before,
it is worth contacting Ambit again.
Practical Wireless January 1979 Copyright  PW Publishing, Ltd.

Page 9